The success of your email campaigns lies in the fact that they can help you build a powerful bond with prospects and create closer and more personal communication with your current customers.
It’s also true, though, that people receive tons of emails, and, naturally, most of these get ignored. That’s why you want to create valuable content that doesn’t go straight to the Trash folder.
The good news is that video marketing pieces, like testimonials, whiteboard animation videos, and How-tos go exceptionally well with email – generating a synergy that can make your email marketing efforts go from zero to a hero!
This post will give you the whys and the hows of this match made in heaven. Moreover, we will dive into the best video types you can use in your emails.
Let’s get started!
The benefits of using video marketing in your emails
Here’s a fact: people will not open all of your emails.
Your contacts don’t have the time, or simply your email failed to get their interest quickly enough. That’s where video content and video marketing can help you save the day.
66% of people say they prefer to watch a short video over an article to learn about a product or service (Elite Content Marketers). And 39% call a vendor after watching a video (Forbes).
Video is easier to consume than other types of content as it can squeeze a great deal of data and capture the viewer’s interest in just a few seconds. In addition, videos can keep your contacts’ interest by making information easy to understand and engaging them emotionally.
Lastly, just by using the word “video” in your subject line, you can increase your open and click-through rates.
These are just some of the top-level benefits of video marketing in your emails.
People love videos, and you should include them in your emails to increase your email metrics and make your emails more engaging.
Start by setting your email marketing strategy goals
Figuring out your objectives can give you a better and more accurate perspective on the next steps to follow, and that’s true for any marketing strategy under the sun.
Your email marketing strategy needs a clear intent in order to choose the right video type for your emails. For instance, if your campaign’s primary goal is to boost brand awareness, a company culture video will do the job far better than a how-to video.
Don’t get me wrong; this has nothing to do with quality. Your video can be perfect in terms of quality, but it will fall short if it isn’t used for the right purpose.
Take the time to study your audience and your campaign’s goal, and determine at which stage of the buyer’s journey they are so you can tailor a compelling value proposition and a style of video to match it.
And on that note…
How to choose the right video type
Once you have a well-defined goal, it’s time to pick the most suitable video style. Here’s a shortlist of the type of video content that mix best with email campaigns.
Explainer videos
This style delivers essential information about a product, service, or company by answering questions about how it can help solve people’s problems.
One of its most outstanding qualities is that it can transform a complex message into a clear idea with appealing visuals that quickly grab viewers’ attention.
Explainers are great to include in your email marketing efforts because they are educational, engaging, and short. But out of the types within explainers, whiteboard animation videos deserve a special mention.
Whiteboard videos narrate a story or explain a specific topic using a whiteboard technique that simulates images and text being hand-drawn. Their visuals are based on recognizable symbols and shared knowledge, making understanding easier for people with different backgrounds.
Whiteboard animation videos excel at holding people’s attention because they’re short, to the point, and entertaining. And remember, average attention span is also short, so they will keep your target audience interested.
How-to videos
As its name implies, this type features someone providing instructions on how to do something. Its ability to directly help viewers accomplish a goal makes this style a favorite of many customers.
For instance, if your email campaign goal is to introduce a new product with rather complex functionality, you can create a how-to video with clear instructions.
It’s important to use neutral and easy-to-understand language as you describe every step objectively.
Customer testimonial videos
If your objective is to help those potential clients on your mail list decide to do business with you, customer testimonial videos will lend you a hand. You see, their main feature is their ability to generate and enhance trust among viewers.
Listening to satisfied customers sharing their experiences with your brand can give your subscribers plenty of reasons to finally make that buying decision.
FAQ videos
Every business, regardless of the niche, receives questions. This type will help you provide answers and nurture leads and customers.
The good thing is you can do it all at once or create a series of short videos for your newsletter, where you clarify different FAQs. The latter is a clever tactic because every video will leave your subscribers wanting more.
5 best practices for using video marketing in your emails
Making the right decisions is crucial to optimize and make your video email marketing efforts as mistake-free as possible. Let’s see some tips and tricks that will come in handy.
Create a thumbnail that represents and gives a hint about the content of the video.
Remember, first impressions count, and a good thumbnail can make people want to watch the video.
Add a play button to an image to link your video to your website, YouTube channel, or even a landing page.
Embedding your video is not a great idea because it won’t work on all email programs. Only Apple Mail, Outlook on Mac, iOS Mail, Samsung Mail, and Thunderbird support embedded videos. Yes, that’s correct, Gmail, Yahoo Mail, and the rest do not support videos :/
If you want to make sure your video reaches more people, a play button is the way to go. You can do this by linking the image to the hosted version of your video.
Marketing automation platforms like Encharge can automatically generate a video thumbnail with a play button in your email once you insert a Youtube or other video link:
You can even customize the shape and color of the play button to match your style.
Use a CTA button that pushes your subscribers further down the sales funnel.
Besides the play button we talked about before, you can include other CTAs in the body of your email. For example, if your video promotes an event, you should invite people to register. On the other hand, if you use an explainer video to provide insights about a product, you can encourage people to buy the product.
Keep your video short.
When it comes to video length, there’s no magic number. However, when we talk about emails, it’s recommended to keep the length less than two minutes long. This way, you’ll maximize your video effectiveness.
Don’t forget to include a copy that tells subscribers more about your email/video content.
Avoid using multiple exclamation marks and caps, or your email could be perceived as spam from your recipients’ email clients. Instead, be conversational and use power words.
Finally, place your video below the email copy so people know what to expect when they click the thumbnail.
Use closed captions in your video content.
This way, you’ll allow people with disabilities, non-native English speakers, and workers who may be at the office to watch your video.
Usually identified by a [CC] symbol in the corner of the screen, closed captions exist as a separate file, allowing the viewers to switch them on or off while watching your video.
The takeaway
Email marketing alone is a powerful tool, but its power and effectiveness can grow when combined with video content. The benefits of video marketing in emails are too many to ignore.
Of course, for that to happen, it’s also critical that you create quality video content that perfectly fits your marketing goals and value propositions.
The ideas and tips shared in this piece can be helpful to start your video email marketing strategy. Use them to engage your subscribers with well-crafted video content and build long-lasting relationships with leads and customers.
Read next: 8 Highly-Converting Video Ideas to Implement in 2023
